Scheduled for May, the annual outdoor sports and music festival, held on Brown’s Island and Historic Tredegar, will bring together 12 acts for its 10th anniversary including several top Richmond outfits such as hip hop/jazz artist McKinley Dixon, songwriter Sid Kingsley, twee-pop band Big Baby, and Egghunt Records’ Minor Poet.

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Richmond native DJ Williams will also be coming in from Los Angeles to perform with his group Shots Fired. Williams is currently the guitarist for LA-based Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and Shots Fired, which formed in the fall of 2016, is a funk and rock ensemble featuring drummer Dusty Simmons, bassist Chris Stillwell of The Greyboy Allstars, keyboardist David Veith of KDTU, saxophonist Daniel “Dela” Delacruz and trombonist Andy Geib of Slightly Stoopid and trumpeter, and fellow Richmonder Mark Ingraham (Smoochie Jankins).

The Wood Brothers and The Marcus King Band will headline the festival with Chris Jacobs Band, Chris Leggett, Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds, Black Janis, and Agents of Good Roots rounding out the rest of the bill.

As usual, Dominion Riverrock is bringing all the outdoor sports activities to celebrate the river including a 5k Mud Run, an Urban Assault Mountain Bike Race, stand up paddleboarding, kayaking races, slacklining, yoga, an adventure race through the city, and the new Belle Isle Blitz, which is a 5kish course through the Richmond trails.

Of course, Ultimate Air Dogs,, a dog jumping competition, returns again this year. From the smallest beginner jumper to the biggest high flyer, the competition has soared in popularity over the years.

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RVA Mag is looking forward to the Richmond acts all of whom put on a great live show. McKinley Dixon, who dropped Who Taught You to Hate Yourself? tape in 2016, has really exploded on the Richmond music scene in the last year covering police brutality, racism, and other topics in his music. The artist is currently working on his next project, The Importance Of Self Belief, but no release date is in sight yet. Hopefully, Dixon gives us a taste of some of the new music he’s been cooking up.

Minor Poet, who real name is Andrew Carter, released his melodic album And How! back in August and gained traction here with his song “River Days”, which fits perfectly for this festival. Kingsley, who’s signed to local label American Paradox, brings fans deep soulful tunes on his debut album Good Way Home, which dropped back in May, and Richmond’s Big Baby brought us some lo-fi poppy vibes on their latest release, Sour Patch, so hopefully we will get to hear a little of all the artists’ new material at the upcoming festival.

Sour Patch by Big Baby
Dominion Riverrock returns on May 19-21 and is free to attend. Keep in the loop with all the latest updates here.

This weekend marks the return of the Dominion Riverrock Festival to RVA. This “outdoor lifestyle festival” features all sorts of outdoor recreational activities along the beautiful Richmond riverfront, including biking, paddleboarding, kayaking, and even some things I’m a little uncertain about what they actually are, like bouldering and dog jumping. Anyway, all that is cool, but if you’re anything like me, it’s the three days of free outdoor music performances that catch your attention, and there’s a great mix of local and national acts performing this weekend for local music lovers at Brown’s Island.